October10, 2018

A recent report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that the immediate damage caused by climate change will be felt much sooner than originally predicted

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) spoke on the Senate floor about the need to immediately address climate change and move forward with clean energy and carbon reduction efforts. Her speech followed the publication of a report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which found that the immediate damage caused by climate change will be felt much sooner than originally predicted and outlined the dire consequences of continuing our current pace of greenhouse gas emissions. The study comes just months after the Administration announced their intention to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement.

“I’m a former prosecutor, so I believe in evidence. And the facts are in and the science is clear. This report should leave no doubt in our minds that climate change is not only happening, but will continue to pose ongoing risks and growing challenges to our country,” Klobuchar said. “We cannot ignore the dire warnings in this report. We cannot close our eyes to the climate change that is already happening around us or the devastating consequences to our country that are coming in the years ahead. We must act.”

Broadcast-quality footage of Klobuchar’s full speech can be found here.

In her time in the Senate, Klobuchar has supported a comprehensive approach to combatting climate change that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote the development of energy efficient technologies and homegrown energy resources. As a member of the Senate Climate Action Taskforce, she has fought to ensure that efforts to address the threat of climate change are a part of our nation’s energy and environmental policy. Klobuchar strongly supports the Paris Climate Agreement and has pushed the Administration to rejoin the Agreement. She has also opposed cabinet members who doubt the science of climate change and deny that it is occurring.